Justin Newberger
Director of the College Park Youth Orchestra
Justin Newberger is the Director of the College Park Youth Orchestra, for musicians from Prince Georges County and the Greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. He is a York County, PA native who studied violin under Kathleen Yeater. He grew up as a musician in the York Junior and Youth Symphonies attending Susquehannock HS. He holds […]
Melissa Sites
CPAE Executive Director
Melissa is passionate about incorporating the arts in everyday life. As a working musician, Sites teaches and performs in and around Greenbelt and College Park. Sites is also a writer, working in poetry, fiction and non-fiction, and currently reports for the Greenbelt News Review. Since coming to work for College Park Arts Exchange in 2005, […]
Claudia Chudacoff
Director - College Park Youth Orchestra Chamber Ensemble
Ms. Chudacoff just completed her third one-year full-time contract as a member of the violin section of the National Symphony Orchestra. She is the concertmaster of both the National Gallery Orchestra and the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and in 2015 retired from her position as concertmaster of the U.S. Marine Band’s White House Chamber Orchestra, in […]
Allison Hughes
CPAE Treasurer | Director - College Park Chorale
Allison Hughes is a singer, director, and teacher based in College Park, MD. She is the music director for the College Park Chorale, an adult community chorus, directs staged productions of youth and adult community musical theater, and also leads the fun and unusual (un)choir, a pop-up community sing. She is a member of the […]
Laura Lising
Director - College Park Homeschooling Arts Club | Co-Director - College Park Youth Players
Laura has been running the Arts Club and co-directing the Summer Musical for 6 years now, which allows her to combine her love for the arts with her love for creating spaces where children and families can build community while the children engage in fun and challenging art experiences in a supportive environment.
Eric Maring, “Mr. M”
CPAE Board Member, Community Music Coordinator | Director - College Park Youth Music Traditions
Eric Maring, known to his young students as “Mr. M”, is an early childhood music specialist, a performing songwriter, a dance caller, and a multi-instrumentalist. He has traveled far and wide in his musical pursuits – from his home in College Park, MD to Spain, India, Rwanda, and Peru – studying with virtuosos and singing […]
Nat Ledesma
Director - CP Youth Choir & Vocetti
Natalie “Nat” Ledesma directs CPAE’s Vocetti and Youth Chorale, as well as the chorus at Sonia Sotomayor Middle School in PGCPS. She holds a B.A. in Vocal Music from Washington and Lee University and is currently earning her M.A. in Kodály Music Education from the University of Central Missouri. In her free time, Nat enjoys […]
Karen Stewart
Teacher - Soul Line Dance
Jessie Barnes is the founder of Jessie’s Soul Line Dance and sometimes teaches the soul line dance classes on Zoom on Fridays.
Karen Stewart
Teacher - Soul Line Dance
Born in New York City, Karen came out of the womb tapping her tiny foot to the beat! She has always loved to dance. Though she never received any formal dance training, she has been told that she is a natural. Karen currently resides in the DMV. After Karen began attending Jessie’s Soul Line Dance […]
Ian Blackwell Rogers
Arts Drop In Lead teacher
Ian Blackwell Rogers, a local artist and Early Childhood Educator with 30 years experience, is the Arts Drop In Lead teacher.